The proposed study tests emerging theory about the perceived benefit phenomenon, the process by which those who nave experienced traumatic events report benefit and growth as a result of their experiences. Prior research has identified these perceptions of benefit as protective of long term health and mental health. Compared to other protective factors identified in trauma research, these perceptions of benefit are accessible and alterable, offering considerable intervention potential. Tests of specific theoretical propositions of how benefit occurs and how it affects mental health are necessary in order to develop interventions based on these concepts. This project examines several pathways where benefits are derived from traumatic events and affect subsequent mental health. These propositions are tested using path models and a sample of motor vehicle crash survivors recruited from a major teaching hospital. The pathways to be examined are: 1) traumatic events lead to health enhancing lifestyle changes which affect subsequent mental health problems and quality of life; 2) traumatic events lead to an increased faith in people and increased compassion which affect subsequent mental health problems and quality of life; 3) coping with traumatic events lead to an increased sense of self-efficacy which leads to less distress following subsequent negative events; 4) traumatic events lead to increased spirituality which affects subsequent mental health problems and quality of life; and 5) perceiving benefit soon after a traumatic event, regardless of type, leads to less mental problems and better quality of life. Structured interviews will be conducted with motor vehicle crash survivors eight weeks and 13 months post-crash. The project will use the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, the Post-Traumatic Symptom Scale and several quality of life measures to assess current and past mental health and will assess several types of perceived benefit (health enhancing lifestyle changes and increases in self-efficacy, family closeness, community closeness, spirituality, faith in people, and compassion toward others). The research will improve understanding of the role of perceived benefits in coping and adaptation processes and inform research and theory on resilience, PTSD, and health promotion. Studies of motor vehicle crash survivors are needed because two million Americans sustain serious injuries in automobile crashes each year, and rates of PTSD in this population are comparable to rates found in other traumatically exposed groups.